Category Archives: Fiction

Toffs Floribundi: Costume Drama, Oxford and Brexit

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

–On the occasion on the release of a new Downton Abbey film, The Times has devoted several articles to the costume drama as a genre. These begin with Robert Crampton defining the genre. From his perspective, a costume drama must … Continue reading →

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May Day Roundup

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

–The second part of Alexander Larman’s centenary recognition of Kingsley Amis has appeared in this month’s regular issue of The Critic. See previous post. He starts with an amusing description of Amis’s somewhat ramshackle acceptance of his Booker Prize for … Continue reading →

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New Academic Studies (Updated)

Posted on April 28, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

–The article based on a previously mentioned lecture has now been published and posted on the internet. This is entitled “Narrating Difficult Histories: Interwar Border Crossing in Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies (1930) and Christopher Isherwood’s Down There on a Visit … Continue reading →

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New Brideshead Adaptation “Shelved”

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

According to the entertainment news website IndieWire, Luca Guadagnino has confirmed in an interview that the planned TV series remake of Brideshead Revisited has been shelved. Here’s an excerpt from the story by Samantha Bergeson: …director Guadagnino […] confirmed that … Continue reading →

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Roundup: Book List and Bullingdon

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

–Charles Moore writing in the Daily Telegraph has a story entitled “Not even the Queen’s Jubilee is safe from BBC preaching: There are good writers all across the Commonwealth, but Auntie insists on telling us that it knows best”. He … Continue reading →

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Derek Granger: This Sunday in Eastbourne

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

Derek Granger, producer of the Granada TV series Brideshead Revisited will appear this Sunday, 24 April at 2 pm in Eastbourne College. He is 101 tomorrow, Saturday, 23 April. He will be in conversation with David Grindley at Eastbourne. Here … Continue reading →

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Robert Morse (1931-2022) R.I.P.

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

American actor Robert Morse has died at the age of 90 at his home in Los Angeles. He is best known in this parish as the actor who played the role of Dennis Barlow in the 1960’s Hollywood adaptation of … Continue reading →

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Tax Day Roundup

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

–Writing in The Tablet, former Anglican priest Chris Moody provides a remembrance of Septimus Waugh. He begins by recounting a visit, shortly before Septimus’s recent death, where Moody showed him the photo of his latest work as installed in an … Continue reading →

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Roundup: Divorce, Cults and Lost Cities

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

—The Guardian recently posted a selection of books on difficult marriages in its “Top 10s” column. It is not surprising that a book by Evelyn Waugh on this topic made the list. Here’s the entry by Elizabeth Lowry: 3. A … Continue reading →

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Amis (Pronounced “Ames”) Centenary

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Jeffrey Manley

The Daily Telegraph has posted an article by Jake Kerridge marking the centenary of Kingsley Amis. This will occur later this month. The article is entitled “Why misogynist Kingsley Amis is too good to cancel” and opens with this: In … Continue reading →

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